Includes bibliographical references and index

Superheroes for the common man : the birth of the comic book industry, 1933-1941 -- Race, politics, and propaganda : comic books go to war, 1939-1945 -- Confronting success : comic books and postwar America, 1945-1950 -- Youth crisis : comic books and controversy, 1947-1950 -- Reds, romance, and renegades : comic books and the culture of the Cold War, 1947-1954 -- Turning point : comic books in crisis, 1954-1955 -- Great power and great responsibility : superheroes in a superpower, 1956-1967 -- Questioning authority : comic books and cultural change, 1968-1979 -- Direct to the fans : the comic book industry since 1980 -- Death of Superman, or, must there be a comic book industry?

As American as jazz or rock and roll, comic books have been central in the nation's popular culture since Superman's 1938 debut in Action Comics #1. The author offers a history of the comic book industry within the context of twentieth-century American society

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